Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
One concept that has been successfully employed is a game feature or bonus feature that is triggered by an event occurring in a “basic” game. The game feature may include any type of modification or enhancement to game play of the basic game. The triggering event is pre-selected to initiate the game feature and may be known or unknown to the player. An unknown triggering event, or “mystery trigger,” may be linked to a recognizable game event, such as a winning outcome or a non-winning outcome, and may occur randomly throughout the basic game.
Game and bonus features may operate in conjunction with basic game play, may modify and/or enhance basic game play, and may be dissimilar to basic game play with regards to game mechanics, game play experience, and other characteristics. Popular game and bonus features include free spins, award multipliers, and special awards and symbols, but game and bonus features may take any form. Often, game and bonus features provide a player an opportunity to obtain more and higher-value awards than are typically achieved in basic game play, and so provide incentive to play the wagering game in which they appear.